This wasn't how it was supposed to be, not how Sia had envisioned her day. She wondered whether anyone else could be stuck like this, and if so, she hoped for their well-being. Staring at the towering pile of files before her, she regretted every choice that brought her to this moment. With a tight shut of her eyes and a tilt of her head back, she let out a groan. She was supposed to come up with designs for her project, yet here she was, sifting through files that would do nothing to boost her grade.

Roughly thirty minutes earlier, while she was talking with Kairav, her phone chimed, flashing a message from Deepti. She glanced at it and saw the text, 'check your email!!!' Puzzled, she raised her eyebrows and politely excused herself from Kairav.

Returning to her office, she skimmed through her emails, pausing at a recent one from her college. The subject read, Extension of Holidays – not the typical office correspondence. Yet, it captured Sia's interest, and she read every word. Its informality was striking, but Sia appreciated it; it was one of the aspects she loved about her college.

She scanned the email, noting phrases such as 'technical issues', 'an additional week of holidays', and 'more free time', the latter marked by a hashtag. She blinked at the screen, reread the message, and then again. After about fifteen minutes and four readings, she finally began to consider it.

Within minutes, the news had circulated throughout the office, and she found herself with an additional pile of unfinished files on her desk. That's how her already challenging day took a turn for the worse. She allowed herself five minutes of solitude, muttering curses, sipping water, resisting the urge to send Deepti a 'FUCK YOU' in all caps. Instead, she composed a brief message to her father: 'Holiday extended by a week, I'll be home for seven more days.'

She began her task by organizing the files and categorizing them into distinct groups. She glanced at the file containing designs and then at the one she had been working on previously. It was going to be a long fortnight.

Ayaan frowned at the array of packed items. "What the fuck is happening?" he muttered, and seeing he was the only one present there, the room offered no answer. His mind raced to recall if he had forgotten something, but nothing surfaced. "Sparsh!" he shouted, and the boy emerged from the kitchen, his brown shirt coated in flour. On further inspection, Ayaan recognised the shirt as his own. "Why have you packed all your bags?"

Sparsh shot him a questioning look, as if to ask if he was being serious. "Don't tell me you forgot," he sighed, while Ayaan showed no signs of recollection, "the lease?" Sparsh hinted, "It's expiring tomorrow." That was all it took for everything about his life to come rushing back to Ayaan.

The decision to not renew the lease and relinquish the flat was Ayaan's. Previously, Sparsh's parents owned the place, but eleven months ago, they purchased a new one in a superior area and offered Sparsh the opportunity to move in. Initially hesitant, Sparsh was swayed after hearing Ayaan's constant complaints about the hostel for three weeks, leading him to suggest they become roommates. Ayaan joyfully accepted the proposal and within a week, he had left the hostel.

A month earlier, when Sparsh mentioned renewing the lease, Ayaan had objected. Working part-time at a nearby cafe, he had made many acquaintances. He was confident he'd find a new flat within a month, allowing Sparsh to move into the flat he received as a gift on his twentieth birthday. Rich People!

Now, as he reflected on everything, he was filled with regret. He didn't want to return to the hostel; it sucked there. He wished the earth to swallow him whole. With this thought, he looked down at the ground, wishing for it to split open, but it remained intact. 

Disappointed at the earth, he sighed softly, "yeah, I might have kind of forgotten about it." Without allowing Sparsh to respond, he withdrew to his room, shut the door behind him, and collapsed onto the bed.

Hours passed and Sia was finally done with one file. She looked at the clock in her office which pointed to seven with its hour hand and two with its minute hand. By the time the minute hand reached four, she had packed all her stuff and was ready to leave. She closed her cabin's door to see almost everyone already gone. Well, she didn't expect anything different. 

"You should change your name to 'Always Late Rathore'" She heard none other than the great Kairav Sharma.

"I was working," she muttered, rolling her eyes at the boy and walking towards the stairs. They were on the thirteenth floor but Sia could walk that much, it was all the work-out she did throughout her day.

She heard the boy following after her, "so 'Overworking Rathore'?" He offered as Sia climbed down the stairs and reached for her phone in her pocket. "Don't bother," he said, noticing the gesture, "I've already booked a cab for us."

Sia gave him a small thankful smile, no matter what an ass he could be sometimes, he was still pretty thoughtful. "Why are you still here?" She asked.

He just shrugged in response, "just thought I'd wait for you." Though he tried to hide it, Sia knew it wasn't that but she decided to not push it any further. She pushed the door and exited the building.

"Alright," she said in a small voice, "how's Rashmi by the way?" She asked, changing the topic but before he could reply, the cab was already there.

Sia got into the cab, settling her bag on the seat and scooting over for Kairav to got in. Kairav informed the address to the driver and opened his phone. "You didn't answer my question?" Sia asked once the cab had started moving and Kairav hadn't spoken a word. 

"Huh?" He questioned looking up from his phone, "oh Rashmi?" He shrugged, "she's fine."

Sia couldn't help but be slightly suspicious. She could sense something was wrong, furrowing her eyebrows, she looked at him, "is everything okay between you two?"

"Yeah," he said, "of course! We're doing great, would probably move in soon and get married." He had maintained a smile on his face, but Sia knew him better than to fall for it. However, she also knew it wasn't wise to push the matter any further, not at the moment at least.

Ayaan wanted to cry and maybe even kill someone. He felt as if the earth below his feet was coming apart but somehow still not engulfing him. He could be killed right at the moment, and he would be thankful to his killer. He walked into the office where he'd gotten the new job but all he wanted was to go home, lie on his bed and be sad. In short, he was miserable and hadn't slept all night.

He'd just gotten off the phone with Mishthi's mother and told her what had happened. She had scolded him at first but then told him that he'd find a flat. He wanted to believe her but he knew it wasn't practical. There was no way such an opportunity would just come walking to him on its feet.

He walked into the lift and pressed the button saying '13', still lost in his thoughts. "Hey! Wait!" He looked up to see a guy running towards him while the doors closed. It would have made a great except Ayaan wasn't into guys. Or at least he believed he wasn't. He gave the guy a small nod before pressing the hold button.

The guy entered the lift and gave him a smile, "thank you so much!" Ayaan nodded in response, muttering a small 'don't mention it'. The guy looked around Ayaan's age, maybe he was an intern too, Ayaan concluded. He was, unlike Ayaan who'd worn a formal shirt, dressed in a t-shirt and pair of ripped jeans. "You're new, right?" he asked Ayaan as the doors of the lift closed, pressing the button which said '7'.

Ayaan gave him another nod, "yeah, its my first day. How do you know?" There was no way he would know everyone in the office. It was huge place. 

"Oh just, if you were here for at least a month, you wouldn't have held the door for me." Ayaan gave him a confused look, "I'm really sorry," he muttered before pressing the button saying '1'. Ayaan stared at him with wide eyes, he'd just pressed a button! He reached further and pressed '2' and went for the third one but Ayaan pushed him away.

"What the fuck man?" Ayaan asked furiously, pinned the guy on the floor of the lift, the lift stopped at the first floor and doors opened, gaining the two of them strange looks. Ayaan still didn't let the guy go.

"I'm sorry! But it's a habit, I can't stop myself." Came the guy's voice from below him, "and can you please move? It's getting hard to breathe." The doors closed again, and the lift started to move upwards.

Ayaan got up carefully, standing between the guy and lift buttons. He was ready to push him down again if he even dared to go near the buttons. The guy on the floor followed after him and stood straight on his feet.

"I'm Kairav," he introduced himself, extending his hand, "I work part-time for the designing team." 

Ayaan accepted and shook his hand, "Ayaan." The elevator dinged again, coming to a stop on the second floor. This job was going to be hell.